Theater chair



Jan. 24, 1928. 1,657,285 H. SISKIN THEATER CHAIR Filed Jan, 5, 1926 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 24, 1928. 1,657,285

H. SISKEN THEATER CHAIR Filed Jan. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Sheets-Sh eets Jan. 24, 1928.

H. SISKIM THEATER CHAIR Filed Jan. 1926 H. SISKIN THEATER CHAIR Jan. 24,1928.

Filed Jan. 5. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 7 fs' f? q individual units which 2together in a simp 45 back props.

Jan. 342%, li -i263.

manna exist-tin, or nos ANGELES, eenm'onnrn.

THEATER CHAIR.

Application filed January 5, 1926. Serial No. 79,385.

5 individual seat.

An object of my invention is a theater chair formed of a number ofindividual chair units, these being connected together forming a longbench with individual arm rests between eachindividual seat, theindividual seats and arm restsbeing suitably upholstered.

A further object of my invention is to form a theater chair of the benchtype of may be bolted together to form the whole bench or a group ofchairs connected together.

A further object of my invention is to make the arm rests and chairseparators in separate units with separate upholstery to make theindividual permanent seats of sep arate units and the permanent backsalso of separate units, the various units being de signed and fittedwhereby they may be bolted le manner. The upholstery for the seat andback is of a detachable character and may be placed in position on thepermanent seat and back, thereby forming a series of complete chairs ina united 1* group or bench.

A specific object of my invention is in Y the particular manner in whichthe separators and arm rests are bolted to the permanent seats and thepermanent backs in a simple manner so that these units can be assembledat the theater or wherever utilized, without requiring the shipment'ofthe completely made up chair or bench.

My theater chair comprises a series of 4a separator units forming armrests having front and back legs, back props extending upwardly from thelegs, armssecured between the front and back legs and a separator frameattached to the arms and the These separator units are covered withupholstery suitably padded and form the basis for securing permanentbacks attached between the back props and the back legs, by being boltedtogether and the 39 permanent seats being secured to seat barsconnecting the front and back legs. Thus a bench consisting of alurality of individual separator units may e built up forming individualchairs therebetween. A removable upholstered back and a removableupholstery back frame,

holstered seat may then be placed in position, thus forming a fullyupholstered series of chairs in the form of a connected bench.

My invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription and drawings, in which;

Figure l is a perspective view of a bench of theater chairs manufacture.

Fig. 2 is perspective view of the completed bench and chairs, viewedfrom underneath.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of an individual chair on theline 33 of Fig. 4.

in various stations of Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on Vthe line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the separator unit frames.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of one of the separator units, broken away toshow the upholstery.

Fig.- 7 isa longitudinal vertical on the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view from underneath of one of the permanentseats.

Fig. 9 is a detail section of Fig. 8 on the line 9-9, showing the mannerof constructing the permanent seat and other elements of veneer.

Fig. 10 is a manent back, thereof. I Fig. 11 is a detail verticaltransverse section of Fig. 10 on the line 11-11, i1lustrating the mannerof applying the upholstery.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of viewed from the rear.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the upholstery back, viewed from thefront.

Fig. 14 is a vertical section through the center of Fig 13 on the line14-14.

Fig. 15 is a perspective View of the upholstery seat frame.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the upholstered seat.

Fig. 17 is a transverse section of the upholstered seat on the line 1717of Fig. 16.

The general construction of my theater chair is shown particularly inFigs. 1 and 2, in which the numeral 1 designates a bench shown as aplurality of individual chairs, comprising end chairs 2 and centerchairs 3; it being understood that as many center section perspectiveview of the perlooking at the forward side chairs could be utilized asdesired, there bethe up- 1 frame in any suitable manner.

ing two end chairs at opposite ends of the bench, these chairs beingsimilarly constructed. The chairs are separated by separator units 4forming arm rests 5. These units are all of the same construction andare utilized to form the separating structure between the individualchairs, the arm rests between these chairs and the arm rest for the endchairs and also form a main supporting structure for the whole bench.

The separator units are constructed sub stantially as follows, havingreference particularly to Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7. Each of these units isprovided with a front leg 6, a back leg 7 mergin' into what may betermed a'back prop 8, w ieh is in reality like an upward extension ofthe'leg, the leg having a backward bend at substantially the point 9 asindicated, this being at about the level of the finished upholsteredseat. The seat bar 10 connects the front and back legs below the levelof the finished upholstered seat and an arm bar 11 connects the top ofthe front leg to the back prop having a somewhat trian lar brace 12 atthe corner. A separator frame 13 consists of an upright separator bar 14connected to the arm bar and braced at the top by a top bar 15 forming arigid connection between the top of the prop 8, that is the top of theback leg continued, and

the separator bar.

It will be understood that a seat rest board 16 formed of .a narrowstrip is attached to the lower edge of the said bar, extending betweenthe front and the back leg and projecting laterally sideways to engagethepermanent seats as will be hereunder explained.

It will also be understood that these separater units are all similarand of substantial construction. The post and back prop are providedwith bored holes 17 and the seat are with bored holes 18 for bolting thestructure as hereunder defined. Dowel holes 19 are formed in the arm barand engage the dowels 20 detachably securin the arm piece 21 to thearmbar. A pad ing 22 is secured over the arm piece, a padding 23 over thefront of the separator bar 14 and a adding 24 over thetop bar 15. Thesepad- 'ngs are covered with upholstery material of fabric, leather orsuitable covering, indicated by the numeral 25 and the space in theseparator. unit frames between the coverin and the frame members isfilled with stufiing 26, the fabric being secured to the It ispreferable to make the separator units of wood and on account of beingcovered with upholstery a relatively cheap grade and rough type of woodmay be utilized.

' v The permanent back between the separator units is constructedsubstantially as follows, beialg illustrated particularly in Figs. 1, 3,10 an 11.

These permanent backs are designated neaaaea generally by the numeral 27and consist of side rails 28, a cross rail 29 being secured near thelower end of the side rails. A capping piece 30 connects the top of theside rails and a back panel 31 is secured to the side rails, the crossrail and the capping piece. A bottom cross rail 32 is secured to thelower end of the panel. The bottom cross rail is cut short, leaving anend space 33 between the end of the rail and the side of the panel andthe side rails' are of such length as to leave a horizontal space 34between the ends of inch rails and the top of the bottom cross ra1 Inthis construction it is preferable to make the panel of ly material suchas threely wood. The si e rails are provided with bolt holes 35. Cleatsor staples 36 are secured to the front face of the panels and a padding37 is secured to the capping piece with upholstery material 38 extendingover the front and top of this piece and down the back of the panel asindicated by the numeral 39. This upholstery is sufficient to cover allexposed parts of the back or if the panel is made of good material itmay he left unupholstered at the back.

The permanent seats are constructed sub stantially as follows, and areshown particularly in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9.

These permanent seats are designated generally by the numeral 40 andcomprise a front bar 41, side bars 42 secured thereto, at opposite endsof the front bar and a board 43 preferably made of veneer material suchas three-ply wood. These various elements are securely fastenedtogether, leaving an open space 44 at the back to fit in the permanentback as will be hereunder described.

Bolt holes 45 are formed in the side bars and air holes 45 in the board43.

The upholstery back is constructed substantially as follows, havingreference particularly to Figs. '12, 13 and 14.

The upholstery back is designated generally by the numei al 46 andcomprises an upholstery back 47 having side frame bars 48, a top framebar 49 and a veneer panel 50 having air holes 50. This panel is providedwith hooks 51 on the back end, the upholstery 52 utilizing springs 53. Apadding 54 and a covering material 55 are secured on the front of thepanel and drawn over the side frame bars and the top frame bar asparticularly shown in Fig. 13.

The upholstery seat is particularly illustrated in Figs. 15, 16 and"17and is designated generally by the numeral 56. This has a seat frame 57formed with side walls 58 and a filler board 59, the upholstery comprising a lower set of springs 60, an upper set of springs 61 secured ina separate fabric bag, both sets of springs being enclosed in thepadding 62 and the fabric or other covert emes ing till. This coveringextends downwardly enclosing the side walls as indicated in Fig. lb.

The manner of assembling the various units above described to form thecomplete bench ofitheater chairs is substantially as :tollows:

The permanent backs are first secured to the separating units, the boredholes 17 in the back legs 7 and the extension prop 8 of the separatorunits registering with the bolt holes 35 in the side rails 28 of thebacks. Thus these elements may be bolted together and at the ends of thebenches the bolts secure only the unit and one permanent back andbetween the seats a unit and two perma nent backs. The permanent seatsare then slid into position with the side bars 42 engaging and slidingalong the seat rest plates 16 as clearly shown in Fig. l. The boredholes 18 in the seat bars 10 register with the bolt holes in the sidebars 42, whereby the permanent seat may be securely bolted to theseparator units.

Tt will be noted on reference to Fig. l, that the seat rest plate 16 forthe end separator units extends only on one side of the said units,whereas for the center units it extends in opposite directions.Therefore the end separator unit sections can be made in rights or lettsor these certain rest plates may be secured to the seat bars 10 at theplace of assembly.

llt will be noted that the board 43 of the permanent seat rests on thebottom cross rail 32 ot the permanent back and fits in the space 3%between the bottom cross rail and the lower ends of the side rails 28,also the side bars {l2 of the permanent seat fit in the space 33 at theends of the bottom cross rails 32. if desired these various meetingsections may be suitably glued while being bolted.

lt will thus be seen that the frame work may be made up into a rigidstructure, forming a bench of chair frames having any suitable number ofchairs incorporated in the bench.

till

. connected together by unskilled labor, or labor less skilled thancabinet makers and till the upholstery units may likewise be readilyplaced in position and readily removed.

It will be understood that at the end units, the bolts securing theseunits to the permanent backs and seats would preferably be countersunkand covered with upholstery material or otherwise made inconspicuous.Therefore my theater chair embodies all the features of comfort of thepermanent made up bench and chairs and as above mentioned may be readilyassembled and also disassembled if desired, and the upholstery detachedfor cleaning or repair.

Although the various units involved in my invention are comparativelysimple, nevertheless these may be considerably altered in generalconstruction and in detail to makeup other types of theater bench chairsor chairs of considerably difl'er'ent design and for diilerent purposes.

lt is also to be understood that my invention while designated as atheater chair is applicable to the formation of any type of chair madeup in the form of benches of individual chair elements, constructed inaccordance with my invention as set forth in the description, drawingsand claims.

Having described my invention, what ll claim is:

1. A theater chair comprising in combination a series of separatingunits having an arm rest and a separating frame extending upwardly fromthe arm rest, a series of chair units having permanently attached backand seat elements, means to secure the back and seat elements to theseparator units, and upholstery placed on the back and seat, the backupholstery fitting between the separator frames of the separator units,the front of the back upholstery and the front pit glhe separator framesbeing substantially 2. A. theater chair comprising in combination aseries of separator units having front legs, back legs with upwardextensions thereof forming back props, seat bars secured between thefront and back legs, armbars Qll ltlll secured between the top of thefront legs and the back props, a separator frame ex tending upwardlyfrom therarm bars, being connected to the top of the back props, apermanent back element for back upholstery bolted between the backprops, and permanent seat elements for seat upholstery bolted betweenthe seat bars.

3. A. theater chair, as claimed in claim 2, the separator unitsincluding separator frames being covered with permanently attachedupholstery before securing said parts together, and the backs and seatsbeing provided with detachable upholstery.

a. A theater chair comprising in combina tion a plurality of separatorunits, each having a front and back leg, an upward extension of thebackleg, seat bars connected between the front and back legs, arm barsconnected between the top of the front legs and the extension of theback legs, separator bars extending upwardly from the arm bars, top barsconnecting the separator bars to the upward extension of the back legs,permanently attached upholstery covering each top bar, a permanentlyattached back and a permanently attached seat bolted respectively to theupward extension of the back legs and to the seat bars, and removableupholstery mounted on the permanent backs and seats.

5. In a theater chair, a series of separating units having front andback legs with upward extensions of the back legs and seat bars betweensaid legs, a permanent back having side rails, a cross rail, a panelsecured to said rails, a bottom rail on the panel, bolts securing theside rails to the extensions of the back legs, permanent seats havingside bars and a seat board, the side bars being bolted to the said seatbars and the said board resting on the bottom cross rail of thepermanent back, and upholstery removably mounted on the permanent backand the seat.

6. In a theater chair as claimed in claim 5, in which the upholstery issecured to the permanent back by a cleat and hook connection and theseat upholstery rests on the seat board and bears at the back againstthe permanent back.

7. In a theater chair, as claimed-in claim 5, in which the separatorunits have in ad dition arm bars between the front and back legs,separator frames extending upwardly from the arm bars to the top of theextension of the back legs, and attached upholstery covering the saidseparator units, the front of said attached upholstery being flush withupholstery on the permanent back.

8. A theater chair comprising in combination a series of separator unitshaving front and back legs, and an upward extenison of the back legs, apermanently attached back having upright side rails, a panel securedthereto, a bottom cross rail, the said side rails being bolted to theupward extension of the said back legs of the separator units, a cappiece secured to the upper end of the panel and a cross rail positionedon the panel between the side rails above the bottom cross rail,upholstery permanently attached to the cap piece, and means to removablysecure back upholstery to the panel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRY SISKIN.

